Jesus The Ultimate Sacrifice

Matthew 26

¹⁷On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

¹⁸He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.' " ¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.

Mark 14

¹²On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

¹³So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹⁵He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."

¹⁶The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.

Luke 22

⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

⁹"Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.

¹⁰He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹²He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."

¹³They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

In these scriptures we understand that Jesus and the twelve disciples (note it is clearly specified there were thirteen of them in all Jesus and the twelve disciples, no one else were with them during the Last Supper) were to celebrate the Passover feast (Last Supper). In chapter2 I explained a little of the Passover feast, now I like to go deeper in to understanding the Passover.

Exodus 12

¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.

The feast of the Passover was celebrated on the first month of the Hebrew calendar, the month of 'Abib'. Latter also called 'Nisan' during the Babylonian times and the Babylonian system was adopted by the Jews also. Their month system was on the bases of lunar activity. It falls around March / April according to the Roman calendar.

Exodus 23

¹⁵ "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

The feast was a seven day activity starting from the fifteen day of the month of 'Abib'. The first day was a day of Sabbath and the seventh day too was a day of Sabbath. Both these days were solemn days and were treated as the regular Sabbath days and were celebrated in addition to the regular Sabbaths. The main difference was on the first Passover Sabbath they were to eat the Passover meal. The Passover is not only for the Israelites, for the Lord called it the 'Lord's Passover' and is even applicable today for all the followers and believers of the Lord. The only difference being that today we are to celebrate it in Spirit, understanding it and not in practices.

Leviticus 23

⁴ " 'These are the LORD's appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.' "

We are not only to celebrate the Passover feast (the Holy Week) but also the other two feasts; the feast of Weeks and the feast of the Tabernacle. Of these we do celebrate the feast of the Tabernacle (Pentecost).

Deuteronomy 16

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Coming back to the Passover, when God gave Moses instructions on conducting the Passover. The instructions were very specific the first time when the Israelites were under bondage in Egypt.

Exodus 12

⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the firehead, legs and inner parts. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.

¹² "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstbornboth men and animalsand I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

The animal they were to take was to be without defect and they were to bring the animal into their homes a few days before (fourteen days). They were to eat the animal by roasting it in full over fire, not cooking it or eating it raw. The bread that was eaten along with the animal was to be made without yeast and along with bread they had to eat bitter herbs. The animal was to be consumed fully that night not leaving any part of it if left it had to be burnt for it was sacred.

From the day of the Passover up to seven days they were not allowed to even keep yeast in their houses. The night before the Passover they were to kill the animal and apply its blood to the top and sides of their door frame. This was to be done by taking the blood in a basin and using a hyssop, applying it to the doorframe.

For the Lord had said I will pass over them and will not let the destroyer to enter into the houses having blood on the doorframes.

Exodus 12

¹⁴ "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵ For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eatthat is all you may do.

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. ²³ When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴ "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.

How is this valid today? Are we to do the same practice today?

Yes, today we have to do the same; the sacrifice animal today for us is Jesus Christ. To get out of the bondages of sin, we have to bring Jesus Christ in to our homes and into our lives before we receive of Him freedom from bondages. We have to then take His sacrifice blood and apply it to the coming in and going out of our lives. To apply the blood the Israelites had to take the blood in a basin and using a hyssop apply it. We too today need to do the same. We are the basin. A basin holds water which represents sin, before we receive the sacrifice of Jesus in our lives we first have to give up our sinful lives. To apply the blood we need a hyssop, which is faith. A hyssop is a flexible plant but strong, like faith, which starts with a hope but when based on a promise of God is very strong.

The bread that was eaten represented the Word of God and it was taken without yeast; the knowledge and wisdom of man. The bitter herb that was eaten along with the bread represents repentance. Without repentance the sacrifice of Jesus will not be stand good for us. Even John the Baptist and Jesus told the people to first repent to enter the Kingdom of God.

They had to eat the animal by just skinning it and roasting it in whole over the fire, not boiling it or eating it raw. The same applies today; we are to receive Lord Jesus in Spirit and in full. Not leaving any part as our hearts desire. We all tend to do this, accepting Lord Jesus who is the Word of God the Father in parts as to our convenience for we do not want to compromise our way of life. We want to boil the sacrifice, cooking it in our sinful nature wanting the Lord and Satan together. The sacrifice was to be taken by roasting over fire. The fire represents the Holy Spirit. When we believe in Jesus the Holy Spirit is given to us as a promise. Without the Holy Spirit we can not receive the sacrifice of Jesus in our lives.

John 14

¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Ephesians 1

¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possessionto the praise of his glory.

Before we even receive Jesus, other than giving up just our sinful nature, we also need to keep away our intelligence and wisdom of this world. For Jesus said the key to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is to be a child and without a key one can not unlock the door. We do not need to die to enter the Kingdom of Heaven for if we live totally by the Spirit we can live in the Kingdom of Heaven even when we are alive in this body.

Matthew 18
³And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 11

¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Revelation 11

¹⁵The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

When we accept the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ we too need to offer a sacrifice.

Exodus 23

Our sacrifice can never match the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, thou a man can hang him self on the cross and even get slashed by wipes. But remember Jesus is Lord and it is God who became man and died on the cross for us. To compare ourselves to the Lord is foolishness. Just imagine ourselves in comparison to the whole earth and to the solar system and to the galaxy and to the universe. Why do you think that God made the whole universe when He could have made the earth only? He was concern only with earth and man. He did this just wanted man to know his place. So if you really want to know how great you are? Then just compare your size to the universe, yet God loves us and calls us His children.

Deuteronomy 16

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: ¹⁷ Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

Our sacrifice is giving up the things or pleasures of this world that will lead us away from the Kingdom of Heaven. We do not need to live our lives like monks but as per the will of God for us individually not letting our flesh take over our spirit. The grace to do so has already been given to us by God.

Our sacrifice is sharing the blessings that the Lord has given us with the people around us. Giving to the people is like giving to the Lord, for the Lord dwells among His people.

Our sacrifice is doing God's work even when it is difficult for us.

Please do not practice the Passover like the Jews do, but as Christian who follow Christ and live by the Spirit of Christ.

Now as we read through the Gospels scriptures we feel that Jesus knew everything for He could see ahead and foretold the disciples (Peter and John) about the person they would meet and about the place that they were to have the Passover. You would be in for a surprise if I told you that Jesus did not know everything when He was man, He was 100% man and prophesied like the other prophets only that since there was no sin in Him, He was more anointed and therefore better than all the prophets put together.

Mark 13

²⁹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

This is not the only place that Jesus did not know something I will come to another place later in another chapter.

This is not to put down Jesus, but to show the reality that He was man and also called Himself as the Son of Man. Although He was the Lord, He humbled Himself and became man and showed us the way by which we can live our lives. He loved man so much that He was eager to suffer and lay down His life for man. His sacrifice was so great that redeemed all the people from the time of Noah, to the people yet to be born till the last day; the Day of the Lord, only we have to receive it to make it ours.

He was the sacrifice for our sins, but He also became the idol whom we can imitate, by living His life in perfection.

Chapter 4 Chapter 6